Dept clarifies e-Pengamal registration allegation

MAKING CLARIFICATION: Dr Hamidi (left) and Ting at the briefing session.

SIBU: The state Health Department has never authorised any individual to handle the registration of traditional and complementary medicine practitioners with the Health Ministry through e-Pengamal.

When revealing this, the department’s Traditional and Complementary Medicine (TCM) chief Dr Hamidi Mohamad Sharkawi also said registration through the system is free of charge.

“It is not true that we
had appointed certain individuals to be in charge of the registration for
e-Pengamal,” he told a briefing session attended by about 25 practitioners here yesterday.

He said last week six individuals from Miri claimed that they were authorised by the department to handle registration for the practitioners and imposed a charge of RM100 per registration.

Dr Hamidi said it was true that the department had spoken to an association of TCM practitioners in Miri.

“But we only sought their assistance to get their members to persuade other members of similar associations to register with e-Pengamal.

“We did not give them any authority to do the registration,” he said.

Dr Hamidi also said e-Pengamal is a free voluntary registration system set up by the Health Ministry
and is made available
ahead of the mandatory registration of TCM practitioners under the Traditional and

Complementary Healthcare Practices Act.

“The act aims to regulate TCM practitioners by validating their qualifications, enforcing their compulsory registration with the ministry and managing the issuance of practising certificates,” he said.

For Sarawak, he said, registration is now available through all TCM associations statewide.

He also said there are more than 3,000 TCM practitioners in the state registered under eight TCM associations.

Federation of Chinese Physicians and Medicine Dealers secretary-general Ting Ka Hua was also present at the briefing.

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